Between eating leftover turkey and leftovers, it's not a lot of variety this week. My husband has requested more meatless meals over the next few weeks, so I am planning to try the One Pot Pasta recipe I saw online several weeks ago. I will also be researching more vegetarian recipes to try in the future. I need to go grocery shopping today and have to stick close to my list because of buying a grocery store Groupon and eating out on Monday as we went on an adventure to a plantation, waterfall and Christmas lights. Check out how I am doing on our grocery budget. Feel free to share below about meals you are planning for this week.
Tuesday
Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Grilled cheese and Tomato Soup
Supper- Bean and cheese quesadillas and steamed vegetables
Wednesday
Breakfast- Oatmeal
Lunch- Pizza
Supper- Turkey Broccoli Rice Casserole
Thursday
Breakfast-Muffins
Lunch- Quiche and fruit
Supper- Turkey Ring
Friday
Breakfast- Leftover Quiche
Lunch- Leftovers
Supper-
Saturday
Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Leftovers
Supper- One Pot Mushroom Spinach Pasta
Sunday
Breakfast- Eggs & Toast
Lunch-
Supper- Sandwiches & popcorn
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
One Pot Mushroom Spinach Pasta
Here's a good meatless recipe that is also easy because you throw everything into one pot and you have a meal. I am looking forward to trying this recipe for Mushroom Spinach Pasta.
Update: I have made this recipe a few times now and adapted it to something I like. The first time I made it following the recipe above, I found it starchy and tasteless. My family ate it, but I did not like it. It needed flavor. The second time I made it I decided to add pesto to the final product and that was a big improvement. The last time I made it I waited to add the pasta until the water had come to a boil and that was the best version yet.
So, here's MY adaptation of Mushroom Spinach Pasta.
Ingredients:
1 carton sliced baby bello mushrooms (Nice, meaty flavor.)
1 bag of spinach (I used frozen spinach as well. It worked fine. It was more spinach (10 oz.), but it wasn't too much.)
1/2 onion, diced
1 lb. pasta (I like fettuccine, linguine, or penne.)
1 jar (6.7oz.) pesto
Parmesan or mozzarella cheese for topping (optional)
Instructions:
1. Put mushrooms, spinach, and onion in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil.
2. Once water is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package.
3. Drain out all water after pasta is cooked. Add contents of pesto jar and stir.
4. You can add freshly shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese on top of each serving after plating.
This feeds our family of 6.
Update: I have made this recipe a few times now and adapted it to something I like. The first time I made it following the recipe above, I found it starchy and tasteless. My family ate it, but I did not like it. It needed flavor. The second time I made it I decided to add pesto to the final product and that was a big improvement. The last time I made it I waited to add the pasta until the water had come to a boil and that was the best version yet.
So, here's MY adaptation of Mushroom Spinach Pasta.
Ingredients:
1 carton sliced baby bello mushrooms (Nice, meaty flavor.)
1 bag of spinach (I used frozen spinach as well. It worked fine. It was more spinach (10 oz.), but it wasn't too much.)
1/2 onion, diced
1 lb. pasta (I like fettuccine, linguine, or penne.)
1 jar (6.7oz.) pesto
Parmesan or mozzarella cheese for topping (optional)
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| Bought at Aldi |
1. Put mushrooms, spinach, and onion in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil.
2. Once water is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package.
3. Drain out all water after pasta is cooked. Add contents of pesto jar and stir.
4. You can add freshly shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese on top of each serving after plating.
This feeds our family of 6.
Friday, November 28, 2014
All Things Turkey!
I love turkey. I used to think it was just something we enjoyed during the holidays, but as I got older I knew I couldn't pass up buying meat at that price. Now I try to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving and 1 or 2 for later. This year I am sharing a refrigerator with my in-laws so I had to make sure I didn't stuff the freezer full of turkey. I did cook a 20lb turkey on Thanksgiving and I was happy to pack up leftovers for other dishes for the next week. I realize my family may get tired of eating reheated turkey, so I have some recipes for chicken that taste great with turkey and I have found a few more that may be worth trying soon. You may also learn a few tips from this radio show that featured a fellow high school alum who won the recent season of Hell's Kitchen.
To make it easy to find all the things you can do with turkey, I thought I would share the links below. Just bookmark this page and you have some recipes handy for your leftovers this weekend or freeze some turkey for future dishes. If you're like me and grabbed up a second turkey for the freezer you can make your family happy with even more turkey dishes and you have a second opportunity to use the whole turkey by making stock afterwards. Remember, if I can figure out how to do it, you can too!
Turkey Gravy
Turkey Stock
Turkey & Rice Hot Dish
Turkey & Broccoli Ring
Turkey Noodle Soup
Other Website Recipes
Turkey & Rice Soup
Curried Turkey Salad
Turkey Pot Pie
To make it easy to find all the things you can do with turkey, I thought I would share the links below. Just bookmark this page and you have some recipes handy for your leftovers this weekend or freeze some turkey for future dishes. If you're like me and grabbed up a second turkey for the freezer you can make your family happy with even more turkey dishes and you have a second opportunity to use the whole turkey by making stock afterwards. Remember, if I can figure out how to do it, you can too!
Turkey Gravy
Turkey Stock
Turkey & Rice Hot Dish
Turkey & Broccoli Ring
Turkey Noodle Soup
Other Website Recipes
Turkey & Rice Soup
Curried Turkey Salad
Turkey Pot Pie
Chicken Stock
In trying to keep to our grocery budget and needing low sodium chicken broth, I figured it was finally time to make my own chicken stock. After cooking a whole chicken in my crockpot to have cooked chicken for meals throughout the week, I looked up this recipe and made chicken stock very easily. I had enough for meals that week and to freeze in ice cube trays for future soups.
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| Frozen chicken stock made in ice cube trays |
Turkey Stock
After seeing how easy it is to make chicken stock overnight in the crockpot, I knew I couldn't waste the turkey carcass after our Thanksgiving gathering.
I used this recipe for Turkey Stock in a Crockpot. I did not add the apple cider vinegar that the recipe called for.
After it cools in the fridge and the fat rises to the top, I will separate out the fat and then divide it into Ziploc bags or ice cube trays. An easy way to freeze some of it is by using ice cube trays and then transferring the cubes into Ziploc bags.
I used this recipe for Turkey Stock in a Crockpot. I did not add the apple cider vinegar that the recipe called for.
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| Place turkey carcass, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, vinegar and spices in slow cooker. |
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| Then fill slow cooker with cold water. Cook on high for 1 hour then switch to low for 12-15 hours. |
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| Scoop out all the bones, veggies, etc and discard. |
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| Yes, I use a flour sifter to strain the stock. |
After it cools in the fridge and the fat rises to the top, I will separate out the fat and then divide it into Ziploc bags or ice cube trays. An easy way to freeze some of it is by using ice cube trays and then transferring the cubes into Ziploc bags.
Turkey Gravy
Cooking the turkey is the easy part. I've cooked a lot of turkeys. As long as it's defrosted, trust me it isn't fun trying to pull the neck out of a still-frozen turkey, every turkey comes with easy to follow directions.
The part I have always been intimidated by was making the gravy. But, after forgetting to buy gravy and having to buy the most expensive gravy at the store on Wednesday night, I decided it was finally time to learn. So, thanks to the internet and friends who came over for Thanksgiving, we ended up with yummy turkey gravy using pan drippings, flour and a little salt & pepper.
I found this turkey gravy recipe and ended up tweaking it because I had plenty of pan drippings and didn't want to thaw any of my chicken stock or water it down. I realized the important thing is making the roux with the turkey fat and flour before adding the pan drippings.
The part I have always been intimidated by was making the gravy. But, after forgetting to buy gravy and having to buy the most expensive gravy at the store on Wednesday night, I decided it was finally time to learn. So, thanks to the internet and friends who came over for Thanksgiving, we ended up with yummy turkey gravy using pan drippings, flour and a little salt & pepper.
I found this turkey gravy recipe and ended up tweaking it because I had plenty of pan drippings and didn't want to thaw any of my chicken stock or water it down. I realized the important thing is making the roux with the turkey fat and flour before adding the pan drippings.
4 Layer Torte
Crust:
1 stick margarine/butter
1 c flour
2nd layer:
1 c whipped cream
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
3rd layer:
3 c milk
2 small instant pudding (any flavor)
4th layer:
whipped cream
1st layer: Mix like pie crust and put in ungreased pan (9x13). Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool.
2nd layer: Cream together 8 oz cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add whipped cream and beat.
3rd layer: Beat pudding and milk with mixer for about 1 minute. Spread over second layer.
4th layer: Cover pudding with rest of whipped cream. Shave chocolate on top. Refrigerate.
This is one of the my favorite desserts. As a teen, I even requested it for my birthday, in place of cake.
1 stick margarine/butter
1 c flour
2nd layer:
1 c whipped cream
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
3rd layer:
3 c milk
2 small instant pudding (any flavor)
4th layer:
whipped cream
1st layer: Mix like pie crust and put in ungreased pan (9x13). Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool.
2nd layer: Cream together 8 oz cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add whipped cream and beat.
3rd layer: Beat pudding and milk with mixer for about 1 minute. Spread over second layer.
4th layer: Cover pudding with rest of whipped cream. Shave chocolate on top. Refrigerate.
This is one of the my favorite desserts. As a teen, I even requested it for my birthday, in place of cake.
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